


A Heart Left Behind

by HowDidYouGetToMe (ssrumbelle)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-23
Updated: 2013-05-14
Packaged: 2017-11-22 04:56:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/606047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssrumbelle/pseuds/HowDidYouGetToMe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Hook gets so upset over a woman losing her heart, what would he have done if he had been conscious when Cora tried to take Emma's? Starting from 2x09 (with some extra detail and Captain Swan bits), and following along with the show indefinitely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Emma wasn't sure she was going to be able to defeat a pirate singlehandedly.

Things were looking grim; Hook had her on her back, his sword too close to her neck for comfort. He could have just killed her then, but instead he went too far.

"Normally, I prefer to do other, more enjoyable activities with a woman on her back…"

And that was what brought back her determination. Emma wasn't going to let anyone talk to her that way. She didn't take that kind of crap from anyone, especially not from a one-handed pirate straight out of a fairy tale.

Even worse than his utter lack of respect was the fact that Emma had thought he might have genuinely felt something for her. When he said he wouldn't have left her behind on that beanstalk, she knew he had spoken the truth. Now, only hours later, he was throwing around sexual innuendos like she was just another girl for him to add to a collection. He had played with her emotions, and she wasn't sure why it offended her so much. Maybe she needed to be more honest with herself. But last time, Mary Margaret had told her to let her walls down, and look how well that had turned out…

"You might wanna quit." Hook was smirking at her in triumph. But Emma felt something just under her side, and reached to grab the compass. Now, she could take back the advantage.

"Why would I do that when I'm winning?" She kicked hard, sending him flying off of her and giving her a chance to regain her footing. Those martial arts classes were coming in handy.

Hook rebounded quickly, and the swordfight resumed. However, Emma quickly got her right hand free and quipped, "Thanks," before swinging her arm as hard as she could and socking him in the jaw. He stumbled and slumped to the ground.

But this was far from over; Emma and Snow still had Cora to contend with. Seizing what seemed to be a moment of opportunity, they attempted to make a break for the portal, only to be thrown back by Cora. As Cora quickly approached Snow, she threw Emma back onto the sand, leaving her dizzy from the impact. Just as her head began to clear, she heard Cora say, "And now I'm going to give her the one thing she's always wanted. Your heart. Goodbye, Snow."

Emma sprang up almost involuntarily, nearly throwing her mother out of the way to jump in front of Cora. The woman's hand thrust into her chest, and Emma felt the strangest tugging as she heard Snow screaming her name.

"Oh, you foolish girl! Don't you know? Love is weakness!"

"Let her go." Emma turned her head ever so slightly to see Hook rising from the ground. There was quite a large bruise forming on his left cheek. He ran over to put his hand on Cora's arm in a restraining gesture. "Let's just take the compass and leave; we don't need her. She's of no practical use to us."

Cora looked to the Captain and laughed. "Letting our emotions get the best of us, are we? Perhaps Aurora's story wasn't completely fabricated after all…"

"Just…let her go." Hook looked at his feet, at Cora's hand, anywhere but Emma's face.

"I don't take orders from you, Captain." Cora pulled hard on Emma's heart. Emma could feel it pushing against her ribcage, making her nauseous. But it wouldn't budge.

Emma looked Cora in the eye and said, "No. Love isn't weakness. It's strength." And with that, Cora was thrown back from Emma by a pulse of light emanating from her chest. Slightly stunned, Emma put her hand over her heart, expecting something along the lines of a gaping, bloody hole. Finding nothing that suggested she was bleeding out, she turned to Hook.

"Why the sudden heroics? What do you care what happens to me?"

He finally looked her in the eyes then. "Like I said…I bristle at the thought of a woman losing her heart. Unless it's over me."

All she could do was stare back at him. There was more to it than what he was saying; she could tell. Maybe in a parallel universe, it could have become something real, but now, all Emma could do was look at Hook in silence, knowing he would have to be left behind.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters (if only!). Characters and dialogue pulled from the show belong to ABC/Kitsis/Horowitz.
> 
> I know it's been a really long wait! But so many of you asked me to continue, so here's Chapter 2! I hope you like it! It's quite a bit longer than the first! This Chapter follows the episode "In the Name of the Brother."

Hook just turned and walked away.

He didn't try to keep Emma and Snow out of the portal. He didn't try to drag the two of them along with him. He just jogged back to where Cora had crashed to the ground, leaving the portal wide open.

It's like he was doing it on _purpose_.

"Emma!" Snow reached out her hand, and Emma had to take it. She had to get back to Henry and Storybrooke, which she could only hope Regina and Gold hadn't destroyed by now.

But that didn't stop her from twisting her head around as they jumped, to catch one last glimpse of the pirate. And the last thing she saw before the portal closed around them was him, kneeling over Cora – but those blue eyes were watching her fall.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strangely enough, Storybrooke wasn't in such bad shape when Emma and Snow returned. Charming had taken over as Sheriff in Emma's absence, and she had to admit that he'd done a pretty decent job. Eager to get back into a normal routine, though, she politely requested that he step down and let her resume her position. He obliged, but insisted on staying on to become her new deputy.

The Sheriff's station was now a family business, it seemed.

And so, she and Charming were working late one night on Archie's case when they got an emergency call from someone who lived closer to the outer edge of town, saying they had heard a car crash somewhere near the town line.

Charming instantly tensed when Emma gave him the details. "The town line?" He had told her and Snow about the repercussions of crossing the post-curse border.

"It was probably just a crash that happened to be nearthe border. Everybody knows what happens if they cross the line, right? Why would anyone try?"

"What if they were forced?" Charming's voice took on a slightly more stern, almost…fatherly tone. "I know more about this sort of thing than you do, Emma. Something about this doesn't feel right."

She knew his instincts were probably right – and even if he was overreacting, he wasn't going to give up until they checked out the scene. The two of them ran out to the squad car, and Emma drove them down the road that led out of town.

Sure enough, a car had skidded halfway into a ditch just on the Storybrooke side of the border, blocking half the street. Emma couldn't recall ever seeing it before, but it was pretty banged up. As they pulled closer to the accident scene, she asked Charming, "Do you recognize that car? There are only so many in Storybrooke…"

"No, it looks newer than any car I've ever seen in Storybrooke. But…is that Gold's car behind it?"

Emma stopped the car and Charming jumped out as she switched off the ignition.

"Emma, we're gonna need an ambulance! The driver's unconscious; he's got a nasty gash on his forehead…"

"Who is it?"

Charming hesitated and looked at Emma, his suddenly very worried eyes locking with hers. "I don't know!"

And that's when Emma glanced at the license plate of the stranger's car.

Pennsylvania.

Just what they'd been afraid of.

 _Shit!_ Emma didn't have much time to contemplate the danger this could present before she heard someone sobbing from the other side of the wreckage. She ran around the outsider's car to find none other than Gold, kneeling on the wet pavement and sobbing over the young woman he held in his arms. She was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Emma dialed the ambulance and broke into a run toward Gold and the girl, but stopped in her tracks when she heard a voice from the ground next to her.

"Hey, beautiful."

 _No._ No, it couldn't be. A million questions started running through Emma's head. _How did he get here?_ The portal had definitely closed behind her and Snow. There was no other way through; it had taken them ages just to find a way to open a portal. It was next to impossible. But she'd recognize that accent anywhere…

She turned and looked down, and there he was. Bloody, covered in bruises and cuts and dirt, nearly blending in with the black asphalt in his black trench coat and black boots. Emma checked to see that Charming was tending to Gold and the girl before kneeling next to the pirate. She found herself unable to form a coherent sentence, and instead set to examining Hook's ribcage for broken bones. It looked like that car had done some serious damage.

Hook's bloody lips parted to reveal that perfect smile that Emma had been having a hard time forgetting. "And here I thought you wouldn't _notice!_ " His face twisted in pain on the last word as Emma found a fracture.

"Your ribs are broken." She couldn't help but wince as she watched his face contort in agony.

"That must be why it hurts when I laugh…" Hook smirked and then lifted his head just barely off the ground, nodding to where Gold now stood. "Did you see his face?" He raised his voice so Gold could hear, taunting, triumphant. "His one true love, gone in an instant! Just like Milah, _Crocodile_ ," he spat the name like it was poison, "when you took her from me!" He struggled to stand, Emma grabbing his arm so he wouldn't fall.

So Hook had shot the girl. Emma looked toward the edge of the road and spotted the gun, lying at the spot where it must have landed after flying out of Hook's hand.

Gold started swiftly toward them, taking long and quick strides, not letting his cane slow him down. His eyes never left Hook's face, and his mouth twisted into a more vengeful snarl with each step. He reached them just as Hook was getting to a kneeling position and practically growled, "You took her first." Before any of them had a chance to act, he lifted his leg and kicked Hook hard in the face, knocking him back to the ground with a painful groan.

Emma found herself instinctively flying into action, grabbing Gold's arm and pulling him back. "Gold, are you _insane?_ "

" _Yes_ , I am!" Gold yelled back at her before gripping his cane with both hands and bringing it down on Hook's throat. Emma heard the pirate choke as Gold increased the pressure. Charming rushed over to help her as Hook's breathing became more and more ragged.

"You can't _do_ that!" Charming yelled as he and Emma struggled to pull the crazed pawnbroker away.

"I can if you let me go!" Gold wasn't about to give up anytime soon. Emma did feel sorry for him – no matter what bad blood existed between Rumplestiltskin and Hook, there was absolutely zero excuse for Hook to shoot an innocent woman. However, revenge was not justification for murdering Hook, either...

Emma looked again to the woman Gold had temporarily left on the pavement. "You don't want her to see that," she pled with him.

Gold waved off her warning. "I'm a stranger to her."

"'Murderer' is a bad first impression!"

Charming added, "What would Belle want you to do?"

Gold hesitated, bloodlust burning in his desperate eyes. But the fire cooled as Emma and Charming refused to relent, and he released his grip on Hook. The pirate gasped for air as the first sounds of the ambulance's siren were heard in the distance. Charming led Gold back to his car.

"You were brilliant again, love," Hook whispered, breathing heavily. "We still make quite the team."

Emma looked down at him, slightly dazed. "Just…just hang tight; the ambulance is almost here. And don't think for a second that this conversation is over, because you have a _lot_ to answer for. Things don't work the same way here as they do in your land."

"Well, then, I look forward to continuing this conversation, darling."

Hook was lifted onto a stretcher and into the ambulance, and Emma headed over to help Charming try to calm the girl – Belle, he had called her. Now that she had to deal with vengeful Rumplestiltskin, newly-amnesiac Belle, the mysterious out-of-towner, _and_ Hook suddenly appearing out of nowhere…

This was going to take a while to straighten out.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't long before Emma found herself at Storybrooke General Hospital, watching helplessly as the Emergency Room doctors wheeled Hook away, now unconscious and lifeless on the gurney.

Gold hadn't been far behind them, and Emma spotted him walking through the doors. His expression was a mix of revenge and worry – was he here for Belle, or for Hook? She suddenly felt an undeniable urge to protect Hook. She could hardly stand seeing the Captain nearly choked to death once; she refused to allow a second attempt on his life.

 _No._ Emma quickly swatted away her wayward thoughts and tried to focus on the task at hand. _I need to protect him because I need to know why he's here. I need to know if he brought Cora with him. That's it,_ she told herself. _There's nothing else to it._

Emma yelled to Hook's nurses, "Hide him! Find a room and hide him," just as Gold began yelling for Belle. Luckily, Rumplestiltskin had lost interest in Captain Hook for the time being.

Emma, on the other hand, found _her_ interest growing by the minute.

She talked with Charming (and Snow, Leroy, and Ruby, who had arrived as well), as they tried to figure out a plan to hide magic from Belle and the Pennsylvanian. But the whole time they were talking, Emma kept thinking about how she needed to talk to Hook. When she finally found a chance, she asked the nearest nurse where they'd put him, and headed straight for his room.

He was lying asleep on the bed, bandaged in numerous places and wearing a white robe. There was still blood on his face, which was turning into one enormous bruise. As she stood at the foot of his bed, Emma thought back once again to those last minutes she had spent in her parents' world.

Why had he let her go?

She had abandoned him at the top of that beanstalk; she had effectively broken any alliance they had formed. He had no reason to try to stop Cora from ripping her heart out. He had no reason to give up the portal to Storybrooke. He could have jumped in unnoticed while they were preoccupied, fulfilling his need for revenge and leaving them trapped in one fell swoop.

But he hadn't.

No, he had tried to stop Cora from taking their lives. He had left the portal open for them. And he had watched her as she jumped, made sure she got through.

She'd turned every scenario over and over in her mind since they'd gotten back to Maine, and she still couldn't figure it out. The only thing that she could think of that made sense was… that Hook had feelings for her.

And that's what scared her.

Back in the giants' castle, he had asked her to trust him. There was something about him, a je ne sais quoi that had made her give it a shot, try trusting this swashbuckling rogue who had become her temporary partner in crime. And she quickly found herself seeing similarities between Hook and Neal. She grabbed onto him to save him from setting off the trip wire and found herself holding him close. At first, she hadn't wanted to let him go. Holding him like that, with his arms around her back – it felt warm, _comforting_. But then she felt those butterflies in her stomach. Butterflies she hadn't felt since… Graham.

That was when she decided to push him away. She couldn't risk getting emotionally attached to Hook when she knew he would have to be left behind anyway. Besides, he was a _pirate_ – the odds of his feelings actually being genuine had to be incredibly small. Yes, maybe she was putting her walls up again, but she thought it was for the best.

Flash forward to this eventful evening in Storybrooke, however, and Emma felt her feelings start to waver. He had greeted her with "Hey, beautiful."

 _You'd make a hell of a pirate_ , he'd said.

_You were bloody brilliant. Amazing._

And what was it that he had said, as they stood at the bars of Rumplestiltskin's cell? That she was once _magical, full of hope and possibility._

Was it nothing but pirate sweet talk, or had she underestimated his heart? She couldn't be sure. He was so difficult to read, unusually difficult for her.

Hook started to stir, and Emma forced herself back into Sheriff mode. She couldn't let her feelings get in the way of this investigation. She sat down on the bed next to his feet. His hook was gone, she noticed – the nurses must have removed it as a precaution. Emma had a feeling Hook wasn't going to be pleased to find it missing. That combined with the fact that he was a _pirate_ who had never been in a modern hospital before… who knew what he would do?

Just to be safe, she pulled out her handcuffs and handcuffed Hook's wrist to the hospital bed. She closed her eyes when she heard the "click" of the cuffs locking. The sound brought her back to the top of the beanstalk. It seemed so long ago when she had decided not to take the risk, that maybe trusting Hook wasn't such a good idea. She had chained him up then; here she was doing it again. This time, though, she wasn't doing it to get away from him. She was doing it to _keep_ him there.

The obvious parallel almost made her chuckle.

Hook's eyes finally cracked open after a minute, and Emma immediately asked, "Where's Cora?" She wanted to get the first word in.

He started to sit up and quickly realized that he was tied to the bed. "Again?" he asked, leaning back with a sigh. "You're really into this, aren't you?"

So he had noticed the same parallel she had.

He did that thing with his eyebrows, that one-eyebrow-lift that always wrinkled his forehead. His expression made Emma want to laugh, but she forced herself to give him an unaffected smile instead.

_How does he do that?_

He tried to pull his hand out of the cuff and let out a grunt of pain. Shaking his head, he smiled in resignation. " _Damn_ , that hurts."

Emma had had more than a few broken ribs in her days of chasing people through crowded streets. She knew how much pain Hook must have been in, and she wanted to call the nurse for some pain medication – but she had to finish the business end of this conversation first.

"Told you, you cracked a few ribs." Emma stood and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, trying to seem aloof. Refusing to give in, she asked again, "Where's Cora?"

Avoiding the question, Hook replied, "You look good, I must say – all, ' _Where's Cora?_ ' in a commanding voice. Chills!"

Emma was starting to get really frustrated with this beating around the bush. This was important; she couldn't continue to let him treat this situation like a joke when she needed answers.

Apparently, asking direct questions wasn't getting the job done.

"You have all sorts of sore places I can make you hurt," she threatened.

And he just wordlessly smiled – no, snickered – as if remembering an inside joke Emma wasn't in on…

_Wait. Did he just make that dirty?_

He was turning her own words into innuendos, and it made her want to punch him in his already-bruised face. Instead, she settled for a fake-out jab to the ribs, lunging forward quickly and causing Hook to recoil out of reflex. He inhaled sharply, closing his eyes as a wave of pain washed over him.

Emma just gave him a snarky smile. Her question still hadn't been answered, and her patience was wearing thin.

The smirk dissolved away from Hook's face as he finally gave in. "I have no idea where Cora is; she has her own agenda." He rattled the words off quickly, clearly trying to get it over with and change the subject. Emma knew what he had said was true, but she could tell he wasn't providing all the information. She had a feeling he knew exactly what Cora's "agenda" was.

The one thing Emma did know for sure, though, was that Cora had indeed gotten through to Storybrooke. And with Regina and her mother potentially working together, who knew what chaos would erupt in the town? Even working alone, Cora could do plenty of damage.

Hook seemed much more concerned with his missing appendage, however: "Let's talk about something I am interested in – my hook. May I have it back? Or is there another _attachment_ you'd prefer?" He raised his eyebrows and smiled again, so proud of himself.

While Emma was mostly just annoyed by the blatant sexual references, she had to give the pirate credit for persistence.

"You're awfully chipper for a guy who just failed to kill his enemy…then got hit by a car."

"Well, my ribs may be broken, but…" He briefly paused for effect. "Everything else is still intact."

Emma just rolled her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. At this rate, her eyes were going to get stuck that way. _Does he ever quit?!_

Hook continued. "…which is more than can be said for other bad days I've had." He slowly adjusted himself on the bed, trying to get more comfortable. "Plus, I did some quality damage to my foe."

Emma looked at him like he was insane. "You hurt Belle!"

"I hurt his _heart_. Belle's just where he keeps it."

How could he care so little about the girl he _shot_ to enact his revenge? Emma felt nauseous just thinking about it; she couldn't even begin to understand what was going through his mind. Although, she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. He was a pirate.

She had to stop expecting him to be a gentleman.

Hook kept talking as her mind was churning. "He killed my love. I know the feeling."

As if that gave him a good reason to _shoot Belle!_

Emma leaned down, resting her hands on the bed so she could get closer to his face. "Keep smiling, buddy. You're chained down. He's on his feet, immortal, has magic, and you hurt his girl. If I were to pick dead guy of the year… I'd pick you."

And he just smiled. He looked like a little boy who was sassing his mother. Emma smiled right back. Slowly, she rose and left the room, not breaking eye contact until she had nearly reached the door.

She wandered down the hall, yawning as her stomach growled angrily. _What time is it?_ She looked at the clock on the wall in the visitors' lounge. 6 AM. She'd been up all night. Suddenly overwhelmed with fatigue, she walked into the empty lounge and slumped into an enormous chair.

Despite how tired and hungry she was – it had been nearly twelve hours since she'd had anything to eat or drink – her brain was running full speed ahead. She couldn't stop thinking about Hook, Belle, Gold, the outsider… it was all too much.

Why was she so upset with Hook, anyway? He was _Captain Hook_. She hadn't gotten a chance to watch very many movies when she was a kid, but she'd seen Peter Pan. Hook was the villain. Why should she be surprised that he would shoot someone?

And then her tired mind finally put a word to the emotion. She wasn't surprised. And although she wanted to strangle him for what he did to Belle (and to Gold), it wasn't because she was angry.

It was because she was _disappointed._

Back in Fairytale Land, he had told her that he wouldn't have left her at the top of the beanstalk. He wouldn't have abandoned her like everyone else in her life had.

And when the time came, he did leave her – but he wasn't abandoning her. He was saving her. He was doing what was best for her. He put her needs before his own, delaying his plans and sending her home to Storybrooke.

Now, juxtaposing that version of Hook with the apathetic pirate on the hospital bed, Emma understood why she was so disappointed: because she knew he could be better. Because she had seen him do better, for her and her family.

Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe he was just a pirate sweet-talker, nothing more.

He frustrated her immensely, and she could do without the constant double entendres. But she couldn't shake the feeling she got in the pit of her stomach whenever he smiled, or did that eyebrow thing, or called her "beautiful."

Emma thought that maybe, if Hook did indeed have feelings for her as she suspected… maybe she could help him get back to that better version of himself. The version that had at least a tiny sliver of compassion for other people.

Right now, though, rehabilitating Hook was about at the bottom of her list of priorities. She still didn't know how he had even gotten through to Storybrooke – was there a weak spot somewhere? Another portal? A spell? A curse? Number One on her mental list, though, was preventing this stranger from exposing magic to the world – a pretty daunting task if ever she saw one.

She really needed some sleep.

So Emma Swan pushed herself up out of that enormous chair and half-walked, half-stumbled out of the hospital lounge. As she approached the squad car, she took one last glance up at where she knew Hook's window was. And then she drove away, leaving him behind once again.


End file.
